9 Marvelous Miles of Trail Running Escalante Utah

Powell Point can be seen on Highway 12

Under the icon of Powell Point or "Pink Mountain" in Escalante Utah, lies a single track that leads 4 and 1/2 miles down to Henderson Canyon. Pink hillsides, strayed arches, and endless vistas distracted me from the grueling inclines. The Ponderosas kept the morning heat at bay and a few steep ravines slowed our heart rates down.  9+ miles round-trip trail running was finished in a couple of hours verses 4 hours at least for hiking. Choose how you want visit this beautiful, easily navigable Forest Service trail in Escalante, Utah.

Single track along edge

Fair-weather clouds Escalante Utah

Cumulus clouds are flourishing above Escalante Utah through-out the year.   

Cumulus Humilis (wider than tall)
moving slowly over the Henry Mountains.

Fair-weather clouds sunrise
Escalante, Utah.

Cumulus congestive tower
can produce sizable showers.

                                                                     

Cumulus fractus
dissipating in front of
La Luz Desert Retreat

Cumulus Mediocris (tall as wide)
seen on Scenic Highway 12
Escalante, Utah.

Scenic Byway 12 Escalante Utah

The drive on Scenic Byway 12 is worth the trip to Escalante, Utah alone. Experience 124 miles of diverse, remote, and wildly sculptured landscape you'll ever find in the world.

 
 See why Scenic Highway 12 was voted #2 as the most beautiful highway in the world:
                                                  Most Beautiful Highway

Better yet, explore the red rock country, hoodoos, high alpine forests and open sagebrush flats on your road bike. Whatever your transportation mode, Byway 12 will add to your spectacular Southern Utah journey.

Moment Away

The pressure was on: get from Park City, Utah to Escalante, Utah in less than 5 hours so Ricki (husband) could give his lecture on "Beekeeping." We were miffed when a caravan of tourists stopped on Highway 12 to gawk and film a huge horseshoe rainbow over Henrieville. How dare these tourists hold up our deadline! We sped past them and as we zipped into the Blues, a hologram of yellow, red, and blue spilled into the Blues' ravins. Was this the end of the rainbow? How to capture this moment when we didn't have time, nor was it safe, to take a picture of this pot-of-gold? I realized that this moment will never come again. The sightseers had it right: have your camera ready because you'll never be here, in this moment, again and there is beauty all around you.
Yesterday morning I did capture the moment, via iphone, as the Harvest Moon dipped below Powell Point.

Road Cycling to Kodachrome State Park

We changed our usual morning exercise routine to an early evening road bike ride last night to Kodachrome State Park from Cannonville, about 20 round-trip if you go into the State Park. What a relief to have the temperature cool down the longer we rode bikes. The shadows were long as the sun lost it's luster. Highway 12 has fascinating scenery for road biking, West and North from Escalante, Utah but no shoulders.The road to Kodachrome rarely had vehicles on it, perhaps because of the evening time or it just isn't as crowded as the local National Parks. I felt safe and at ease riding skinny tires on this open road toward Cottonwood pass (just outside Kodachrome), home of Grosvenor Arch and back to Cannonville, and continued east on Highway 12 toward Escalante. Ah, this is where the missing vehicles were going, to Escalante.